In The Sunshine
by Kameka
Summary: It’s the morning after the night before: William’s thoughts upon waking up with Anna after they spent the night together.


Title: In The Sunshine

By: Kameka

Rating: hard PG-13 / soft R just to be safe - Nothing particularly graphic, but there is nudity.

Disclaimers: not mine, no money made, don't sue.

Notes: My second Notting Hill fic, just another short one.  This hasn't been beta'd/edited, so any mistakes are mine and I apologize for them.  I did, however, read through it a few times, so hopefully there aren't many (if any.)  

Summary: (Movie Fandom: Notting Hill) - It's the morning after the night before: William's thoughts upon waking up with Anna after they spent the night together.

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Light filtered into the bedroom and tickled at William Thacker's senses, making him peripherally aware that he had not closed the curtains the night before. It was brighter than it should have been, as he was used to waking up earlier in the morning for some private 'alone time' that had been in short supply since his exuberant Welsh flat mate had moved in. He groggily levered himself from the bed and made his way the short distance to the bathroom, nimbly avoiding the minefields that two bachelors living in close quarters had inadvertently set up in the hallways. His use of the facilities finished, he made his way back to the haven that was his bedroom and fell onto the bed with a groan as he groped for the white duvet, hoping to pull it over his head and block out the rest of the world for a few more precious moments. The movement was halted when he froze at the quiet murmur uttered in a feminine voice husky with sleep and a warm body pressed itself against his own.  
  
"Hmm, welcome back," said the voice of the unidentified woman as she snuggled closer to the warmth of his body.

He looked down at the auburn hair that was tumbled across his chest and gently twined a single finger in it before running the pad of that finger through the soft barely-there waviness.  Laying back and cushioning his head on the white-cased pillow, he blinked and shook his head slightly, stopping when the woman gave a murmur of protest as her flesh-and-blood pillow moved.  All at once, memories from the previous day came back to him, effectively dislodging the wispy remnants of his pleasant dreams.  Anna Scott.  He was in bed with Anna Scott, a famous film star.

The woman lying against him shifted again and William automatically moved his arms to cradle her against him, smiling slightly when she sighed in pleasure and slipped deeper into sleep.  No, he corrected himself.  She wasn't Anna Scott, famous film star.  When she was here and always to him, she was simply Anna, a beautiful woman.  That was just as petrifying, he realized, looking back on his track record with women in general and beautiful women in particular.

The night before last he had still been depressed over how things went the first time he and Anna had met when her boyfriend had showed up in London unexpectedly.  His doldrums over that state of affairs had led his close circle of friends to go out of their way to help him find the perfect woman for him, a quest that had been cultivated by a series of blind dates, most of which had thankfully happened in group settings.  After quite a few misses that landed nowhere near the bulls-eye, his best friend Bella, ironically one of the only three women in the world he had loved, had found her.  The perfect woman was named Rosie; an articulate, witty, considerate, and openhearted young package wrapped in flawless skin, shining hair, and a gentle smile that was readily available.

Rosie was absolutely perfect; just the type of woman that he had dreamt of finding after Bella and Max had fallen in love, had thought he'd found in the woman he had married before being disillusioned with life once more.  She was the type of woman that he had always envisioned as his wife, his life-mate, and his partner.  She was someone who would fit in well with his friends and family, who would fit well in his life.

And when William looked across the candle-lit table at her, walked her to the door and said goodnight, even when he received a gentle kiss on his cheek with a somewhat shy invitation to meet again… He felt absolutely nothing.

Instead of rejoicing that his friends' quest was over, that they had found the woman for him, he had been depressed at the reminder that you couldn't choose who you love.  He'd pointed that out to Bella and Max, knowing that they would empathize and sympathize with him, and they had.  They had offered the use of their sofa so he wouldn't have to go home alone to his waiting flat mate. They had been solicitous the next morning, making sure that they included him in their morning rituals even as they rushed off to work.  He had walked home, no less depressed after seeing their casual shows of affection, and been hit with yet another of Cupid's arrows, the cherub of Greek mythology apparently not thinking that once was enough.

Anna Scott walked back into his life, her untouchable beauty marred by tearstains, her hair a mess, her clothing just simple pieces that she had obviously thrown on for comfort.  Instead of the film star, the woman behind the facade that sought only to protect her from the unthinking and sometimes intentionally cruel public greeted him.  As she entered, all of the realizations he had decided upon during the time between their meetings disappeared and all thoughts of Rosie had fled his mind.

The entire day with Anna was a time warp, a dream in which they were cushioned by the outside world in spite of the circumstances that had thrust them together.  They had talked, once they had gotten past the initial awkwardness that lay between them from last time.  Not about anything in particular, but whatever one of the other happened to be thinking of.  William had learnt that she shared his love for old books and poetry, something he had always thought being publicity hype if he considered it at all.  Anna had been bluntly, painfully honest with him, perhaps in an attempt to make up for not telling him about Jeff earlier in the year.  It was obvious that such honesty was hard for her, Anna being used to shielding her thoughts from people when they asked, hiding behind the cool mask she used to separate her true self from her work.  That hadn't stopped her, however, a fact that William was not only thankful for but admired.

Neither of them had ventured outside; Anna because she hadn't wanted her hiding place revealed and William simply because he didn't wish to lose a moment of her company.  A complete day spent together, talking and laughing as old friends do, the almost instant bond that had been created between the two of them months ago fully intact and ready to be explored if both people were willing.

"Morning," the same husky voice that had spoken earlier said, the owner of it having woke up again before stretching, arching her back and pressing against William's body even more.

"Good morning," he replied with a gentle smile as the head resting on his chest lifted to reveal warm brown eyes clouded with the remaining vestiges of sleep.  He waited while she shifted around until she was once more comfortable before gently touching his finger to the side of her face, drawing it down the soft skin of her cheek and neck before ending at her collarbone.  "Am I dreaming this?" he asked semi-seriously, half-sure that he had dreamt the whole second encounter with Anna, from her showing up at his door yesterday to waking up next to her this morning.

The warmth in the brown eyes dimmed a bit before Anna smiled and shifted again, moving in his arms until she was facing him directly instead of looking up at him.  "I think," she paused, considering her words before plunging on, "that if you are… we both are."

He smiled, the corners of skin around his blue-gray eyes crinkling, and touched her face again.  He recognized that voice; it was one that he had heard often the previous day: Anna's in-private voice, he had termed it, when she wasn't completely sure of herself and didn't have anything 'turned on' for the media or her public.  "In that case," he answered as his smile turned slightly wicked, rolling over so that he was lying atop Anna and her body was pressed into the mattress, "here's to wonderful dreams."  He bent his head and trailed his lips over the skin of her neck and throat, loving the faintly salty taste that was indescribably Anna.

She tipped her head back to give him greater access as she wrapped her arms around him and her hands began to stroke along his spine, causing him to shiver, before she switched to tracing random patterns on the skin of his back with gentle fingers.  Her eyes drifted closed against the bright light of the morning that filtered through white draperies and she reveled in the sure touch of her lover.  He was not at all hesitant, as he had been the night before: once he had come to terms with what was happening, with what they were doing, he had been remarkably take-charge in a sweetly giving way.  Instead of gently striving for any boundaries she may have placed, he devoted himself to simply loving her.

William stopped his kissing and raised his eyes to look into her sleep-and-love flushed face, waiting for her to open her eyes on a moan of disappointment as her hands moved restlessly on his skin.  When they did, he stared into them for a beat before lowering his head once again, tracing her full lips with his tongue before properly kissing her good morning.

"Hmm, this is a very nice way to wake up," she teased him as she lifted her hand from where it had drifted to on the back of his neck to ruffle his sleep-tousled hair, putting gentle pressure on the back of his head to kiss him again.

The kiss ended and William gave her one more quick kiss, barely lingering over her lips before he drew back once again.  "I have to agree," he answered with a smile.  He drew away from her, ignoring her soft cry of objection and uplifted arms attempting to draw him back to her warm body just as he ignored the sense of loss that pervaded his very being as his skin lost contact with her.  He continued his backward motion, and ended up kneeling towards the end of the bed, the white duvet partially on his shoulders and partially trapped beneath Anna's body.  He brushed it off him with an utter lack of modesty and gently tugged until Anna lifted her body slightly and it was released, tossing it down onto the hardwood floor as Anna reclaimed her position and he was allowed to watch her in the morning sun that turned her skin golden.  

He reached out with one hand and gently touched her calf, feeling the muscles flexing under warm skin as she shifted slightly, and ran his hand up her leg until it rested on her stomach.  He flattened it and shifted up on the bed before gently tracing up her ribs and over her breast, smoothing over her collarbone and gently touching her neck, the caress ending with his hand tangled in hair that was spread across his pillow like a bright banner.  Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to one freckle-covered shoulder, tracing over part of her collarbone to press another in the indentation at the bottom of her throat.

"You are," he pressed another kiss against her skin, "so," he took a small lick, wanting a reminder of how she tasted, "beautiful," he murmured, giving her a gentle love-bite that caused her to jump in surprise.

Anna smiled slightly and reached out to touch the side of his face as he had hers, drawing his gave to her face.  "I'm not the only one," she answered in a whisper, sitting up from where she had lain lax under his ministrations.  She moved some more, changing places with William to explore him in the morning light as he had her.  She started with his feet, giggling softly when he shifted an obviously ticklish foot away from her gentle touch, and ran her hands up his hair-roughened legs.  His flat stomach was next, before questing fingers traced patterns into the muscles of his chest.  She leant down to kiss his lips.  "Thank you."

"For what?"

She shrugged self-consciously as she sat back.  "This.  Giving me this opportunity.  Loving me," she said, shrugging again as one large hand crept up to cup the back of her neck and draw her closer.

"That," he promised with a kiss, "will never be a problem."  He kissed her again, their tongues dancing against each other as they continued to celebrate the morning and new beginnings.

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The End

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Reviews are welcome!

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Additional Notes:

Wow.  I did not expect it to end like that (never mind happen like that LOL.)  I wrote the first paragraph of this story a few months ago simply to get it out of my head and then abandoned it to focus on other stories.  Late last night (Jan 28th), I finished another story and decided to open up the file for this one and play around, maybe see if I could add anything.  I didn't intend to write it to the end, it just kind of… happened.

The title is a play on "Ain't No Sunshine" which is on the soundtrack for the film twice, once sung by Bill Withers and the second time sung by Lighthouse Family.  Unfortunately, we all know what happens next in the movie.

_Ain't no sunshine when she's gone_

_It's not warm when she's away_

_Ain't no sunshine when she's gone_

_And she's always gone too long_

_Anytime she goes away._

I hope that you enjoyed some time in the sunshine.


End file.
